Ticket auction

ABSTRACT

This computer-based Internet ticket auctioning method preregisters potential bidders and advises them that all bids are conditional offers to purchase tickets, and therefore cannot be lowered or canceled at will. The auction&#39;s organizer programs the computer that runs the auction with dates and locations of various events, and with auditoria layout and locations of seats to be auctioned. Each registered customer can view the layout of a particular auditorium and submit a bid for one or more seats. The bidder specifies whether a partially filled order and noncontiguous seat assignments are acceptable. The bidder is also provided with an option to engage a “proxy bid” that will increase the bid amount up to a limit set by the bidder, in order to ensure purchase of tickets. Each customer can also choose to bypass the auction process entirely, by submitting a purchase order at a high, preset price. This preset price is automatically accepted and purchase of tickets is guaranteed. At the conclusion of the auction, the computer runs a seat allocation algorithm that assigns the seats to the bidders so as to maximize the total amount realized from the auction. The seat assignment algorithm is also run periodically during the auction in order to determine which bidders have already being outbid, and to allow them to raise their bids.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Reissue application of U.S. Ser. No. 09/565,532,filed May 5, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,003,485, granted Feb. 21, 2006,which claims the priority benefits of copending U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 60/133,013, filed on 7 May 1999.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to the field of on-line auctions, andparticularly to on-line auctions of tickets for entertainment events.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Seats for theatrical, musical, sporting, and other events are typicallysold based on a pricing system that uses broad categorizations for seatlocations. For example, all orchestra seats in a theater usually areuniformly priced for a given performance. The same system applies tosporting events. All tickets for movies are priced uniformly for eachshowing, though discounts for certain classes of people, e.g., studentsand senior citizens, may be available.

This simple system disregards the fact that within each broad categorysome seats are more valuable than others. Moreover, setting ticketprices well in advance of a performance, and keeping ticket pricesconstant, often misjudges the demand and fails to optimize pricing. Notsurprisingly, tickets for a given performance often sell out upon theirrelease; for ongoing events, patrons often have to wait too long to getdesired tickets. These are reliable indicators that the tickets areunderpriced, i.e., that the total amount collected by the event'sproducer/organizer is lower than could otherwise be achieved.Alternatively, if the ticket prices are set too high, many tickets mayremain unsold, also reducing the total amount collected by the event'sproducer, despite higher average ticket price. Because producers, asmost people, prefer a bird in hand to two in the bushes, tickets arepractically always underpriced. Occasionally, the sub-optimal pricingbenefits the consumer; more often than not, however, it benefits theillegal re-sellers, also known as “scalpers.”

Several on-line auction methods designed to optimize revenue from ticketsales, as well as to solve other problems, have been described. Onemethod is the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 6,023,685 issued 8 Feb. 2000 toBrett et al. (“Brett”hereinafter), hereby incorporated by reference asif fully described herein. Brett also describes several other auctioningsystems and methods.

According to Brett, a central computer runs a ticket auction, receivingand evaluating bids sent by bidders from remote terminals. Although thebids are for seats in a single section with all seats subject to thesame minimum bid requirement, each seat is also preassigned apreferential rank. After a predetermined bidding period, the centralcomputer associates the seats with acceptable bids based on the bidamounts and the preferential ranks of the seats, presumably with higherbids being assigned higher ranking seats. During the bidding period,however, the bidders can cancel, raise, or lower bids at will. Brett'smethod also provides for ensuring contiguous grouping of seats subjectto a single bid.

Brett's method has several disadvantages. First, allowing bidders tolower or even cancel their bids wreaks havoc with the auctioningprocess. For example, one bidder can be outbid by another, and sonotified; then, the higher bidder can cancel the bid, making the firstbid acceptable, despite the notification. It is not even clear at whatpoint a bidder becomes legally obligated to pay for the tickets. In sum,allowing cancellation and lowering of the bids creates uncertainty, evenchaos.

Another disadvantage is that remote auctions differ from live auctions.(By “remote auctions” I mean auctions where bidding is done online,through telephone, or by similar means.) In a remote auction, there isno reason to conduct the auction in a short period of time, with eachbidder responding (or choosing not to respond) to other bidderssubstantially in real time; remote auctions can, and often do, last fordays, even weeks. Indeed, it would be difficult to conduct a widelyaccessible remote auction in real time because of potential fortelecommunication equipment overload caused by simultaneous attempts ofmultiple bidders to place or change their bids. A bidder in a remoteauction would have to check the status of the bids periodically to avoidbeing outbid. This is an inconvenience; moreover, because most biddingwill probably be done towards the conclusion of the auction,telecommunication equipment can still become overloaded, preventing thebidder from raising his bid.

Yet another problem with Brett's method is that the contiguityrequirement is the same for all the bidders; i.e., the algorithm thatensures contiguous seating operates on all the bids; it does not alloweach bidder, individually, to specify whether the bidder will acceptscattered seats. Similarly, the algorithm does not allow each bidder tospecify initially whether partially filled orders are acceptable.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is the object of this invention to remedy the above as well asrelated deficiencies in the prior art. In particular, one object of thisinvention is to provide an automated method for remotely auctioningtickets that eliminates chaos resulting from cancellation and loweringof previously entered bids.

It is another object of this invention to provide each bidder in aremote ticket auction with automatic means to increase the bid inresponse to actions of other bidders.

It is yet another object of the invention to allow each participant in aremote auction to bypass the bidding process entirely and ensurepurchase of tickets.

It is still another object of the invention to let each bidder in aremote auction to specify, at the time of bidding, whether noncontiguousseating and a partially filled order are acceptable in order to improvethe bidder's chances of purchasing a ticket or tickets.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To fulfill these and other objectives, the present invention providesfor a computer-based, remote ticket auctioning method that advises eachparticipant, during the participant's registration with the auction orat some other time before bidding, that each bid represents anunconditional offer to purchase and therefore cannot be lowered orwithdrawn. Also during the registration process, the participantprovides credit card information, or makes alternative paymentarrangements.

The remote auctioning system will accept bids only from registeredparticipants. When bidding, each participant specifies one of fouroptions:

-   -   1. Will only accept a full order with contiguous seats;    -   2. Will only accept a full order, but seats may be scattered;    -   3. Will accept a partial order, but seats must be contiguous; or    -   4. No restrictions—will accept a partial order with        noncontiguous seats.

At the expiration of the bidding period, the central computer that runsthe auction assigns all available tickets so as to maximize total amountreceived. Thus, selecting options 2-4 increases the participant'schances of obtaining the tickets at the bid amount because, for example,single seats may be filled.

To obviate the need for each bidder to check periodically the status ofthe bids, this invention provides a “proxy bid” (100)—a way for theparticipant to enter the initial bid is to agree to a predetermined, bidincrement, and the maximum amount of the bid. The proxy then increasesthe participant's bid automatically, to ensure purchase of tickets, upto the maximum bid amount. Alternatively, if available, the participantmay choose the “buy now” function to purchase the tickets immediately,albeit at a high predetermined price.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIGS. 1A & 1B depict a flow chart of a preferred Internet-basedimplementation of the remote auction in accordance with this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

According to the method of this invention, producers of entertainmentevents transmit the following information to the central computer (101)that implements the method:

-   -   1. A seating chart (102) of a theater or stadium (“auditorium”);    -   2. Seats to be auctioned;    -   3. Available performance dates (100);    -   4. Current price schedules (108) for different sections (110) of        the auditorium; and    -   5. Deadline (112) for accepting offers.

The ticket seller of the auction may break the available seats for thesame event into multiple auctions, and thereby further minimizingscalping.

Templates (114) for the auditorium are obtained before an auction andstored on the central computer (100). The best sources I know for thesetemplates (114) are the following books: Sandy Millman, SEATS (for NewYork area), and Denise Cady, GOOD SEATS (for Los Angeles and Chicago).The template (114) is displayed to the general public on the auction'sWeb site (116).

When a potential customer (potential auction participant or bidder)visits the site, the customer is given the options of registering (118),logging-in (129), or browsing (122) the site. If the customer chooses toregister, he will be prompted to enter identifying and billinginformation (124). Typical data (126) requested are:

-   -   1. Log-In Name;    -   2. Password;    -   3. Name (first, last);    -   4. Address;    -   5. Telephone Number (voice, fax);    -   6. Credit Card Information (brand, expiration date); and    -   7. Email Address.

After registering, the customer returns to the main page (128) of theweb site. Registered (118) and non-registered browsing (122) customerscan first click on a one of the available geographical locations (128),e.g., a State, which can potentially be anywhere in the world. Typicalgeographical choices presented are:

-   -   New York,    -   California,    -   Nevada,    -   Florida, and    -   Illinois.        Then the customer can indicate the type of event (13) he wishes        to attend by clicking on an appropriate symbol, such as:    -   Concerts,    -   Theater,    -   Opera,    -   Dance Performances,    -   Sports, or    -   First Run Movies.

The list of available events (13) in the category selected for thatparticular date (106) is displayed next. Assume, for example, that thecustomer selected “Theaters” in “New York.” If available, the followingshows would be listed:

-   -   Phantom of the Opera,    -   Les Miserables,    -   Chicago,    -   Rent,    -   Lion King.

The customer then selects the desired performance date (132) and goes tothe next page. Upon clicking on a specific event (130), a seating chart(102) appears. Available seats (104) being auctioned will be listed,also base (minimum) prices (134) for bidding.

If a given event is of interest to the customer, the customer indicateshow many seats are desired. The amount needed to bid per seat (136) isdisplayed to the customer. Note that the per-seat amount may depend onthe number of seats desired: if there are a hundred seats available andsomeone wants 6 seats, he might have to bid more per seat than someonewho bids for one seat, depending upon bids already placed.

Only registered customers (118) are allowed to bid, and no one may bidan amount less than what is required to secure a ticket at the time ofthe bid. That minimum amount can of course increase as higher bids arereceived.

At this time, the customer may be asked if he would like to increase thebid automatically by predetermined increments up to a certain amount ifhe is outbid. This is the “proxy bid” (100) service described earlier.

An order form is next presented to the customer. The form requests thefollowing information:

-   -   1. Number of tickets (138) desired to be purchased;    -   2. Amount bid per ticket;    -   3. If the bidder would be willing to accept non-contiguous seats        (146) (optional);    -   4. If the bidder would accept a partial order (148) (optional).

To make bidding decisions more informed, the following data can be madeavailable to all browsers: (1) bidding history (150), and (2) a runningclock (152) indicating how long bidding will continue. Based on thisinformation, the bidder may increase his bid at any time; the bid,however, may not be canceled or decreased.

For those customers who absolutely “must” have the tickets, a way tobypass the auction may be provided. For example, the central computermay be programmed to accept bids at some predetermined amount (154), atthe time the bid is made, and to reserve the seats immediately.

The next screen displayed to the customer shows a detailed summary (156)of the order and what the order will cost if and when accepted,including service charges, if any. The computer asks the customer toconfirm that (1) the bid is correct, and (2) the total charge isaccurate and is authorized by the customer. The specifics (158) of thedesired transaction are displayed to the customer to avoid anymisunderstanding of expenses. If the information is accurate, thecustomer advances to the next screen, which asks for anotherconfirmation:

-   -   Do You Wish To Use The Credit Card On File?        If yes, processing the bid is a simple matter; otherwise, new        credit card data is requested on a new screen, and the customer        is asked if he wishes to use the new credit card as the means        for future payments.

When the bid is complete, the customer is given a confirmation code(160) so that at any time prior to the close of the auction the statusof the desired seats can be obtained and the bid can be raised.Registered participants are able to access all current and past orders(164). As described above, the customer can also elect to have the“proxy bid” increase the customer's bid automatically at preestablishedincrements up to a certain amount.

Throughout the process, each customer is repeatedly reminded that thebids are commitments to purchase tickets, and are binding if accepted.

After a given offer is submitted, the customer will have the options ofbidding on a different event (168), exiting the site, and purchasingrelated materials (170). Under the last option, links can be provided tosites (172) selling, for example, music CDs and memorabilia.

Before exiting the site, the customer is asked if he would like toreceive e-mail notifications (174) of other events. If so, a formlisting the types of events of interest is presented to the customer.

When the time allotted for bidding expires, the central computer runs analgorithm (176) that determines the winning bids so as to maximize thetotal amount realized from ticket sales. Note that the algorithm doesnot necessarily allocate the seats to the highest bidders; a higher bidcan be bypassed in favor of a lower bid when the total realized amountis increased by accepting the lower bid. This generally happens whensome lower bid is made by someone willing to take a partial order ornoncontiguous seats. Thus, a bidder willing to accept noncontiguousseats or partial orders improves his chances of obtaining the tickets.

The customer's credit card (178) is billed prior to seats beingallocated.

After completing the auction, the auction site's operator submits a listof customers and seat allocations to the event's producer/operator. Eachsuccessful bidder is notified by e-mail that (1) he has won the bid on“x” seats, (2) the exact amount charged against the customer's creditcard, (3) a special code (180) that will uniquely identify thesuccessful bidder to the event's operator, and (4) a reminder (182) thatthe e-mail should be printed and brought to the box office (184) alongwith identification. If the tickets are a gift, the box-office must benotified who will be retrieving the tickets. If the ticket purchase wasa phone order, the customer is notified by phone under the sameprotocol.

The box office prints the tickets with the amounts for which they werepurchased, which of course are the amounts of the winning bids. Thisshould preclude any charge that the tickets have been scalped; whentickets are scalped, they are sold for an amount higher than the priceprinted on them. It will also allow the event's producer to verify theamounts for which the tickets were sold.

Three days after the event, the event's producer will be paid thecontractual amount, for example the base ticket price plus one half ofthe amount over the base price, less pro-rated credit card charges. Ifthe event is canceled, refunds are automatically given to the customers,and the producers are charged all credit card fees.

All information exchanges described in this document can also be madevia telephones. It is, however, less cost efficient and more cumbersomethan using the Internet.

Although a number of specific features have been described in thisspecification, those skilled in the art will be able to devise variousother modifications that although not explicitly described or shownherein, embody the principles of the invention and are thus within itsspirit and scope.

1. A method for conducting a remote auction of event tickets from acentral computer to a plurality of customers at remote locations, eachsaid customer connected to the central computer by a telecommunicationsapparatus for receiving and transmitting information, the methodcomprising the steps of : programming the central computer with atemplate of an auditorium where the an event is scheduled to take place;programming the central computer with available seat data, the availableseat data identifying seats intended for sale during the remote auction,each of the seats intended for sale corresponding to a ticket;programming the computer with a minimum ticket price below which noticket may be sold during the remote auction; transmitting from thecentral computer to the customers, before the individual customersregisters and before said customers makes any bids, a first message tonotify the customers that bids submitted by the customers during theremote auction are non-revocable; further transmitting from the centralcomputer to the customers a message that customers can individuallyspecify that partial orders and scattered seats are acceptable;requesting registration information from at least a first customer ofthe plurality of customers, the registration information, including thefirst customer's name, a name of the first customer, a password, andpayment information, for registering the first customer for the auction;receiving bids from at least two of the plurality of customers, each ofthe bids including a seat quantity indicating a number of seats bid for,an amount bid, means indicating an indication of whether the customerwho submitted said each bid is willing to accept noncontiguous seats,and an indication of whether the consumer customer who submitted saideach bid is willing to accept fewer seats than indicated by said eachbid's seat quantity, and number of seats bid for; and performing in acomputer a seat assignment algorithm for allocating the seats intendedfor sale during the remote auction among the received bids andincorporating at least one of the a customer's indication of willingnessto accept noncontiguous seats and the customer's willingness to accept apartial orders in a way that maximizes a total amount receivable fromthe plurality of customers for the seats intended for sale during theremote auction.
 2. A The method according to claim 1, further includingthe step of comprising notifying each customer who submitted at leastone bid of a status of the submitted bid's status at least one bid, saidstatus including a notification of a first number of seats allocated tothe submitted at least one bid, a first amount equal to the a cost ofthe seats allocated to the submitted at least one bid, and a uniqueidentifier of the submitted at least one bid.
 3. A The method accordingto claim 1, further including the step of comprising informing eachcustomer of a current minimum bid amount that the customer must bid toqualify for seat allocation.
 4. A The method according to claim 1,further including the steps of: comprising: setting a guaranteedpurchase amount for the tickets seats intended for sale during theremote auction, and enabling the first customer to purchase one or moretickets, seats, without participating in the remote auction, at theguaranteed purchase amount.
 5. A The method according to claim 1,further including the step of comprising enabling a first customer whosubmitted a first bid to engage a proxy bid means for automaticallyincreasing the first bid by a predetermined increment up to a firstlimit.
 6. A The method according to claim 1, further including the stepof comprising sending from the central computer to thetelecommunications apparatus, a graphical representation of the templateand the available seat date data.
 7. A The method according to any oneof claims 1-6 , wherein the central computer and the telecommunicationsapparatus are connected via the Internet, wherein said steps oftransmitting of the first message, registering, said transmitting of thesecond message, said requesting registration information, and saidreceiving bids, notifying, and informing are performed through theInternet, and the step of registering the customers includes the step ofreceiving a second customer's name, password and payment authorization .8. A system for conducting a remote auction of event tickets, the systemcomprising: a central computer, the central computer including: meansfor communicating with a plurality of customers at remote locations;means for receiving and storing a template of an auditorium where the anevent is scheduled to take place; means for receiving and storingavailable seat data for the event, the seat data identifying seatsintended for sale during the remote auction, each of the seats intendedfor sale corresponding to a different ticket; means for receiving andstoring a minimum ticket price below which no ticket may be sold duringthe remote auction; means for transmitting from the central computer tothe plurality of customers a message that customers can individuallyspecify that partial orders and scattered seats are acceptable; meansfor requesting registration information from a first customer, theregistration information information; including a name of the firstcustomer's name , a password, and payment information; means forreceiving the requested registration information; means for receivingbids, each bid including a seat quantity data item indicating a numberof seats bid for, the a bid amount bid field , means indicating anindication of whether the a customer who submitted said each bid iswilling to accept noncontiguous seats, and means indicating anindication of whether the customer who submitted said each bid iswilling to accept a partial orders than indicated by said each bid'sseat quantity, which differs from the number of seats bid for; and meansfor performing a seat assignment algorithm for allocating the seatsintended for sale during the remote auction among the received bids,wherein at least one of the a customer's indication of willingness toaccept noncontiguous seats and the customer's indication of willingnessto accept partial orders is incorporated such that the a total amountreceivable from the customers for the seats intended for sale during theremote auction is maximized.
 9. A method for conducting an auction usinga central computer in communication with a plurality of customersthrough one or more telecommunications apparatuses, the methodcomprising: providing a first message from the central computer to afirst customer, wherein the first message indicates that submitted bidsare non-revocable, and further wherein the first message is provided tothe first customer prior to registration of the first customer and priorto receipt of a bid from the first customer; receiving registrationinformation from the first customer; providing a second message from thecentral computer to the first customer, wherein the second messageindicates that the first customer is allowed to specify that a partialorder is acceptable and that non-contiguous seats are acceptable;providing event information to the first customer, wherein the eventinformation corresponds to an event and includes a minimum bid amount;receiving a first bid from the first customer, wherein the first bidincludes a desired number of tickets, a bid amount, an indication ofwhether partial orders are acceptable, and an indication of whethernon-contiguous seats are acceptable; and implementing, with a centralcomputer, a computerized seat algorithm to determine whether the firstbid is accepted, wherein the computerized seat assignment algorithm isconfigured to maximize a total amount received for ticket salesassociated with the event by incorporating at least one of anaffirmative indication that partial orders are acceptable or anaffirmative indication that non-contiguous seats are acceptable.
 10. Themethod of claim 9, further comprising providing the first customer witha template of a venue where the event is scheduled to take place. 11.The method of claim 9, wherein the event information further comprisesavailable seat data.
 12. The method of claim 9, wherein the eventinformation further includes a deadline for submitting bidscorresponding to the event.
 13. The method of claim 9, wherein theminimum bid amount is based at least in part on a number of ticketsavailable.
 14. The method of claim 9, wherein the minimum bid amount isbased at least in part on the desired number of tickets.
 15. A systemfor conducting a remote auction of event tickets, the system comprising:a central computer including means for receiving registrationinformation from a first customer; means for providing from the centralcomputer the first customer with a message indicating that the firstcustomer is allowed to specify that a partial order is acceptable andthat non-contiguous seats are acceptable; means for providing eventinformation to the first customer, wherein the event informationcorresponds to an event and includes a minimum bid amount for tickets tothe event; means for receiving a plurality of bids on the tickets to theevent from a plurality of customers, wherein the plurality of bidsincludes a first bid from the first customer, wherein the first bidincludes a desired number of tickets, a bid amount, an indication thatpartial orders are acceptable to the first customer, and an indicationthat non-contiguous seats are acceptable to the first customer; andmeans for performing a computerized seat assignment algorithm toallocate the tickets to the plurality of customers such that a totaldollar amount received is maximized, wherein the tickets are allocatedbased on at least one of the indication that partial orders areacceptable to the first customer or the indication that non-contiguousseats are acceptable to the first customer.
 16. The system of claim 15,wherein the central computer further comprises: means for receiving atemplate of a venue where the event is scheduled to take place; andmeans for providing the template to the first customer.
 17. The systemof claim 15, wherein the first bid comprises a proxy bid that specifiesa limit, and further wherein the central computer comprises means forautomatically increasing the bid amount by a predetermined increment upto the limit.
 18. The system of claim 15, wherein the bid amountcomprises a guaranteed purchase amount such that the first customer isguaranteed the desired number of tickets.